KR101604181B1 - Compact pulse vacuum live spindle hub lock - Google Patents

Abstract

A pulse vacuum hub lock system for selectively coupling the wheel hub to the axle
And a cartridge unit accommodated in the bore in the wheel hub. The cartridge unit supports a clutch ring for movement between the splines in the wheel hub and for direct engagement with the axle. The diaphragm is coupled to the piston assembly and engages or disengages the latch mechanism that is responsive to vacuum pressure to retain the clutch ring to drive the piston assembly to the engaged or disengaged position. A piston spring and an auxiliary spring are provided between the first and second pistons of the piston assembly and enable separation at the vacuum level necessary to drive the latch mechanism. The vacuum hub lock system is compact, so it can be placed in the inboard of the opening in the outer side of the wheel rim.

Description

COMPACT PULSE VACUUM LIVE SPINDLE HUB LOCK [0002]

This application claims benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61 / 774,169, filed March 7, 2013, and U.S. Provisional Application No. 14 / 156,774, filed January 16, The entirety of this application is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a locking hub system of a vehicle, and more particularly to a pulsed vacuum driven locking hub cartridge having a reduced length of assembly.

This section provides background information related to the present invention, not just the prior art.

Vehicles capable of four-wheel drive designed for on-road driving and off-road driving typically provide selective engagement / disengagement for two wheels among four wheels. The wheels to be disengaged necessarily include a drive system for driving on a general road from the powertrain of the vehicle and the hub locks are provided to disconnect the axles from the wheels of the vehicle in order to avoid unnecessary energy consumption and wear of unavailable drive system components do. The original hub lock devices were driven manually.

The driver / operator had to disconnect the wheels from the on-shore by stopping the vehicle, engaging the drive case disconnect system, and manually turning the dial located on each wheel hub to drive the hub lock.

Later, mechanisms have been developed to automatically drive hub locks. Recently, a variety of design forms have become available as auto-locking hubs for four-wheel drive vehicles. These include direct manual clutch engagement, remote vacuum clutch engagement, and remote pressure clutch engagement. The systems of prior designs included complex designs that required numerous components. The disclosure in the present invention provides a package of aesthetically improved components, while being more compact and easier to assemble into a vehicle.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a pulse vacuum vacuum lock system which is more compact and aesthetically improved while being easily assembled to a vehicle.

This section provides a general summary of the present invention and is not exhaustive of the full scope or all of its features in its entirety.

The present invention provides a compact pulse vacuum driven spindle hub lock that provides a cartridge design that is easy to assemble. The hub lock includes a clutch ring with multi-row engagement teeth and outer splines on the constant-velocity axis to reduce the amount of axial movement of the clutch ring. The hub lock uses a pulse vacuum coupling method that allows limited use of vacuum, thus allowing the vehicle's vacuum system to have a lower durability cycle compared to a constant vacuum hub lock.

The hub lock also uses two springs for the pulse vacuum engagement / disengagement system. A large full range of operating springs is used over the entire stroke of the first piston to react against the diaphragm. A second spring is used which helps to reduce the overall stroke of the first piston by requiring a larger vacuum to fully compress the first piston. The two spring systems enable a greater degree of separation at the vacuum level required to drive the pulse / latch system. This allows increased tolerances in the system and thus allows the system to be more robust while at the same time allowing the axial stack dimension to be smaller.

The combination of the present invention allows for minimal axial stacking, so that the design of the present invention becomes an ultra-high density package. This allows the conventional automatic outboard wheel end disconnect system to be completely packaged behind the center cap of the original wheel device manufactured in the conventional style.

Other areas of applicability will become apparent from the detailed description of the invention provided herein. The description and specific examples in the present summary are for the purpose of illustration and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.

The pulse vacuum hub lock system according to an embodiment of the present invention is advantageous in that it is compact and can be easily assembled into a vehicle.

In addition, the pulse vacuum hub look-up system according to an embodiment of the present invention allows a minimal axial stack, which is advantageous in that an ultra-high density package is possible.

The drawings shown in the present invention are provided for illustrative purposes only and not for all possible embodiments, and the disclosure in the present invention is not intended to limit the scope.
1 is a cross-sectional view of a vacuum driven hub lock mechanism applied to a spindle in accordance with the principles of the present invention.
Figure 2 is an enlarged perspective view showing a pulsed vacuum driven hub clutch lock assembly in accordance with the principles of the present invention.
3 is a perspective view illustrating a pulse vacuum driven hub lock mechanism in accordance with the principles of the present invention.
4 is a detailed cross-sectional view of a pulse vacuum driven hub lock mechanism in accordance with the principles of the present invention, showing the disconnect position;
Figure 5 is a detailed cross-sectional view of a pulse vacuum driven hub lock mechanism in accordance with the principles of the present invention, showing the coupling position.
6 is a partial cross-sectional view illustrating the engagement of the latch mechanism.
7 is a detailed operation diagram showing the engagement and disengagement of the latch mechanism.
The same reference numerals denote the same parts throughout the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Exemplary embodiments will now be more fully described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Exemplary embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Various and specific details are provided with respect to embodiments of specific components, devices, and methods in order to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the invention. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and detail may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents. It will be understood. In some exemplary embodiments, well known processes, known device structures, and known techniques are not described in detail.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing only certain exemplary embodiments and is not intended to be limiting. In the present invention, the singular form of a description may be intended to include plural forms of the description unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. The terms "comprises", "comprising", "including", and "having" are to be construed as being equivalents, , Steps, operating steps, elements, and / or components, and may involve the presence of one or more other features, numbers, operating steps, elements, components, and / Or addition is not excluded. The method steps, processes, and operating steps in the present invention should not be construed as necessarily requiring operation in the specific order illustrated or shown, unless the order of operations is expressly specified. It is also to be understood that additional or different steps may also be employed.

When an element or layer is referred to as being "on", "engaged to", "connect to", or "coupled to" another element or layer, May be directly on, bonded to, connected to, or connected to a layer, or alternatively may have intermediate elements or layers. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being "directly on," "directly engaged to," "connected to," or "directly connected Quot; directly coupled to ", there may not be any intermediate intermediate elements or layers at all. Other words used to describe the relationship between elements should be interpreted in the same manner (e.g., between "between" and "directly between", "adjacent" "Directly adjacent ", etc.). As used herein, the term "and / or" includes any and all combinations of items of one or more related listings.

The terms first, second, third, etc. may be used in the present invention to describe various elements, components, regions, layers, and / or sections, but these elements, , Layers, and / or portions are not to be limited by these terms. These terms may be used solely to identify one element, element, region, layer or section from another region, layer, or section. In the present invention, terms such as " first ", "second ", and many other numerical limitations are used, but this does not imply order or order unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. Thus, a first element, component, region, layer, or portion described below may be termed a second element, component, region, layer, or portion without departing from the disclosure in the exemplary embodiment.

The terms related to space, "inner", "outer", "beneath", "below", "lower", "above" Quot; upper "and the like can be used to easily describe the relationship of one element or shape to another element (s) or shape (s) as shown in the drawings in the present invention. Terms relating to space may be intended to include different directions of the device during use or during operation, in addition to the directions indicated in the figures. For example, when a device in the figures is inverted, elements described as "below" or "beneath" of other elements or shapes are accordingly oriented in the "up" direction of other elements or shapes do. Thus, the exemplary term "below" may include both upward and downward directions. The device may be oriented differently (rotated 90 degrees or oriented in the other direction) and the space related descriptors used in the present invention are interpreted accordingly.

Referring to FIG. 1, the wheel hub assembly 10 is shown including a pulsed vacuum hub lock system 12 that engages the wheel 14 with the axle 16. The wheel rim 14 is fixedly mounted to a wheel hub 18 which is rotatably supported on the axle 16. The axle 16 and the wheel hub 18 may be connected or disconnected from each other by a pulse vacuum hub lock system 12. The vacuum source (not shown) is connected to the pulse vacuum hub lock system 12 in a manner known in the art.

The wheel hub (18) is supported by the knuckle (20). The bearing assembly 22 is disposed between the knuckle 20 and the wheel hub 18. The wheel hub 18 has an inboard end 24 having a roll-like holding system 26 (see the figure) positioned opposite the bearing assembly 22, or alternatively, A bearing adjustment nut may be used instead of the system 26. The bearing assembly 22 includes an outer race portion 28 having an outwardly extending flange portion 28A secured to the knuckle 20 by a fastener 30 have.

The wheel hub 18 has a radially extending flange portion 32 in which the brake rotor 33 and the wheel rim 14 are secured by a fastener 35. The wheel hub 18 has a bore 38 extending therethrough for receiving the axle 16 therein.

The bore 38 has an outboard portion 40 having inner splines 42, as best seen in Figures 4 and 5. 1, the needle bearing assembly 44 is provided on the inboard end of the bore 38 between the axle 16 and the wheel hub 18. 4 and 5, the bore 38 includes a recessed groove 50 (not shown) that receives a retaining ring 52 that abuts against the shoulder 48 and bearing assembly 54 . The bearing assembly 54 abuts against the shoulder 56 of the axle 16 and holds the axle 16 within the bore 38. The axle 16 has two axially spaced rows of outer splines 58A, 58B on its outboard end. As shown in Fig. 1, a knuckle vacuum seal 59 is provided between the knuckle 20 and the axle 16.

4 and 5, a pulse vacuum hub lock system 12 is inserted into the outboard end of the bore 38 and is held in place by its retaining ring 61 As shown in Fig. Between the bore 38 and the locking hub system 12, an O-ring 63 may be provided for sealing. The pulsed vacuum hub lock system 12 includes an inner housing 62 that receives a disengagement spring 62 against its base portion 60A as best shown in the enlarged perspective view of Figure 2. The inner housing & housing (60). The clutch ring 66 is disposed opposite the engagement release spring 62 on the outboard side. The clutch ring 66 has two axially spaced rows of inner splines 66a, 66b (best seen in FIG. 4) for selective alignment and engagement with the outer splines 58A, 58B on the axle 16 (Not shown). The clutch ring 66 has outer splines 66c that engage with the inner splines 42 of the wheel hub 18. [ The outer surface of the clutch ring 66 further includes a plurality of concave axial grooves 66d. The housing ring 68 is engaged with the outboard housing portion 60B of the inner housing 60 and fixes the engagement release spring 62 and the clutch ring 66 in the inner housing 60. The inner housing 60 has a plurality of side supports 60C connecting the base portion 60A to the outboard housing portion 60B and as best seen in Figure 3, In the concave axial grooves 66d.

The outer housing 70 is attached to the inner housing 60 and defines an inner chamber 72, as shown in Figs. As shown in Figure 2, the housing ring 68 has pockets 68a for receiving side supports 60C.

The outer housing 70 has connecting fingers 70a accommodated in the recesses 73 provided in the inner surface of the outboard housing portion 60B of the inner housing 60. [ The outer housing 70 can be rotatably locked to the inner housing by the connecting fingers 70a. The diaphragm 74 is disposed in the chamber 72 and has an outer peripheral portion captured between the inner surface of the outer flange 70A of the outer housing 70 and the housing ring 68. [ The first piston 76 is attached to the interior projecting nub 78 of the diaphragm by a spring arm member 80. The spring arm member 80 has a body portion 82 having a central aperture 84 for receiving the projection nubs 78 of the diaphragm 74. The body portion 82 of the spring arm member 80 is received in a recessed cavity 86 in the outboard surface of the first piston 76 and has tangs 88 ultrasonic welded to the body portion 82, As shown in Fig. A pair of spring arms 80A and 80B extend from the body portion 82 and extend through the opening 76A in the first piston 76. [

A piston spring 90 and concentric, small auxiliary spring 93 are disposed between the first piston 76 and the second piston 92. The first piston 76 has an annular side wall 94 extending circumferentially spaced and axially extending fingers 96. The fingers 96 are received within corresponding circumferential gaps 98 in the outer periphery of the second piston 92. The second piston 92 is connected to the first piston 76 by a second piston 92 with a piston spring 90 and an auxiliary spring 93 which are compressed between and as best shown in Figures 6 and 7, The center posts 92A having a pair of latch shapes 100 that engage with the connecting ends 102 of the pair of spring arms 80A and 80B of the spring arm member 80 to latch- Respectively. The mating end 102 engages the latch feature 100 in a first stable position and a return path. Particularly, FIG. 7 shows the engagement end 102 of the spring arm 80A in various engagement / disengagement states with respect to the latch shape 100. FIG. The mating end 102 is shown in a first steady state that is unlatched as indicated by position "U ". Applying a vacuum pulse to the diaphragm 74 in the chamber 72 causes the spring member 80 and the mating end 102 to engage the latch feature 100 at the intermediate position "I ". As the engagement continues, the mating end 102 engages the latch-shaped lip portion 104 to maintain the first piston 76 and the second piston 92 at the second stable latch engagement position ("L") do. Application of additional pulse vacuum to the diaphragm 74 causes the first piston 76 to move to the second piston 92 until the engagement end 102 of the spring arm 80A reaches the disengaging position & The spring force of the spring arm 80A pulls the engagement end 102 around the tip end 106 of the latch feature 100 thereby releasing the vacuum, The end portion 102 is released from the latch shape 100 along the release path so that the first piston 76 can move away from the second piston 92. [ When the first and second pistons 72 and 78 are engaged, the clutch ring 66 is pushed by the engagement release spring 62. At this time, as shown in Fig. 4, The engagement of the two rows of outer splines 58A and 58B on the axle 16 is released. When the first and second pistons 72 and 78 are disengaged the clutch ring 66 moves under the biasing force of the piston spring 90 and the auxiliary spring 93 against the resistance of the engagement release spring 62 The inner splines 66A and 66B of the two rows are engaged with the outer splines 58A and 58B of the two rows on the axle 16 so as to be transmitted to the axle 16 via the clutch ring 66, (16) to the wheel hub (18).

The compact pulse vacuum drive spindle hub lock 12 provides a cartridge design that is easy to assemble. The multiple row associated teeth 66A and 66B of the clutch ring 60 and the multiple row outer splines 58A and 58B on the axle 16 reduce the amount of axial movement of the clutch ring 66. The use of the pulse vacuum coupling method allows the use of a limited vacuum, thus allowing the vehicle's vacuum system to have a lower durability cycle compared to a constant vacuum hub lock.

The design of the present invention is generally based on the fact that instead of being commonly referred to as an inner drive gear, which is mounted on the constant-velocity shaft 16 with a clutch ring 66 that engages the inner drive gear, Connection splines 58A and 58B are used. In the design of the present invention, the clutch ring 60 slides axially directly inwardly of the wheel bearing hub 18 and is directly engaged on a constant shaft 16, That support is no longer needed. This therefore removes additional friction sources in the system. The ball bearing 54 is installed inside the wheel bearing hub 18 to support the constant velocity shaft 16. Thus, the constant velocity shaft 16 is located axially by the ball bearing 54 inside the wheel hub bearing 22 and is also subjected to a thrust load of the system. The needle bearings 44 on the inboard side of the constant velocity shaft 16 provide an additional radial position of the constant velocity shaft 16. The knuckle vacuum chamber 59 is located between the constant velocity shaft 16 and the knuckle 20. Therefore, the chamber 59 does not perform any related operation during 4 x 2 driving in most fuel saving modes.

The present invention also uses two springs 90 and 93 for a pulse vacuum engagement / disengagement system. A full-scale full-scale piston spring 90 is used over the entire stroke of the first piston 76 that is responsive by the diaphragm 74 to oppose. The full range piston spring 90 is to fully engage the clutch ring 66 onto a constant shaft 16. A second auxiliary spring 93 is used which helps to reduce the overall stroke of the first piston 76 by requiring a larger vacuum to fully compress the first piston 76. [ The two spring systems enable a greater degree of separation at the vacuum level required to drive the pulse / latch system. This allows increased tolerance in the system and thus allows the system to be more robust while at the same time allowing the axial stack dimension to be smaller.

The combination of the present invention allows for minimal axial stacking, so that the design of the present invention becomes an ultra-high density package. The entire cartridge unit 12 including the housing assemblies 60 and 70, the clutch ring 66, the diaphragm 74 and the piston assemblies 76 and 92 is moved to the aperture 111 in the wheel rim 14 Is disposed in the inboard of the opening 109 in the outboard surface of the wheel rim 14 being opened. Thereby allowing the conventional automatic outboard wheel end unlinking system to be completely packaged behind the center cap 110 received in the conventional wheel device aperture 111 manufactured in the conventional style. The design of the present invention is efficient with a pulse vacuum drive system as well as designs that are currently available and have minimal rotational drag.

The foregoing description of the embodiments of the invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. Which is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the teachings of the invention. The individual elements or feature configurations in a particular embodiment are not normally limited to a particular embodiment, but may be used in selected embodiments, where applicable, interchangeable, and not specifically shown or described. It can also be modified in various ways as well. Such modifications are not to be regarded as a departure from the invention, and all such modifications are to be regarded as being included within the scope of the present invention

Claims (22)

A pulse vacuum hub lock system for coupling a wheel hub to an axle,
A housing assembly;
A clutch ring disposed within the housing assembly;
An engagement release spring disposed between the housing assembly and the clutch ring;
A diaphragm supported by the housing assembly;
A piston assembly coupled to the diaphragm, the piston assembly having first and second pistons and a latching device for releasably coupling the first and second pistons to a latched position relative to each other;
A piston spring disposed between the first piston and the second piston; And
And an auxiliary spring disposed between the first piston and the second piston,
Wherein the auxiliary spring is concentric with the piston spring and is smaller in size than the piston spring,
Pulse Vacuum Hub Lock System.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the piston spring provides a resistance across the entire stroke of the first piston and the auxiliary spring provides resistance only for a portion of the stroke of the first piston.
3. The method of claim 2,
And wherein the second piston is disposed opposite the clutch ring.
The method according to claim 1,
The latching device has first and second spring arms attached to the first piston and respectively disposed on opposite sides of the post of the second piston
And a spring arm member engageable with the first and second latch shapes on opposite sides of the post of the second piston.
3. The method of claim 2,
Wherein the housing assembly defines a cartridge unit that supports the clutch ring, the diaphragm, the first piston, the second piston, the spring arm member, the piston spring, the auxiliary spring, and the release spring, Wherein the clutch ring is configured to be received within the bore of the wheel hub and wherein the clutch ring has outer splines that engage the inner splines of the bore and is also coupled to a pair of axially spaced outer spline sets on the axle, And a pair of axially spaced inner spline sets that can be moved to disengage.
5. The method of claim 4,
Wherein the spring arm member includes a body portion and the first and second spring arms extend from the body portion through an opening in the first piston.
The method according to claim 1,
The second piston having a plurality of circumferential gaps on an outer circumferential surface and the first piston having a plurality of fingers received in the circumferential gaps of the second piston.
In a pulse vacuum hub lock system,
A wheel hub having inner splines;
An axle having a pair of axially spaced outer spline sets;
A cartridge unit accommodated in the bore in the wheel hub;
A clutch ring disposed within the cartridge unit, the clutch ring comprising: a pair of axially spaced axially spaced outer splines for selectively engaging the outer splines for engagement with the inner splines of the wheel hub and the axially spaced outer splines of the axle, A clutch ring having inner spline sets spaced apart;
A diaphragm supported by the cartridge unit; And
A piston assembly received in the cartridge unit and coupled with the diaphragm, the piston assembly comprising first and second pistons and a spring disposed therebetween for deflecting the first and second pistons in opposite directions, A piston assembly having a latching device for releasably coupling the first and second pistons to a latched position,
Wherein the spring includes a piston spring disposed between the first piston and the second piston and an auxiliary spring disposed between the first piston and the second piston, the auxiliary spring being concentric with the piston spring The piston spring is smaller in size than the piston spring,
Wherein said cartridge unit with said clutch ring, diaphragm and piston assembly therein is received in said bore of said wheel hub as a single assembly.
9. The method of claim 8,
Wherein the cartridge unit comprises an inner housing and an outer housing attached to the inner housing, the inner housing having a base portion and an outboard housing portion connected to the base portion by a plurality of spaced apart side supports, Hub lock system.
10. The method of claim 9,
Wherein the clutch ring has an outer surface having a plurality of concave axial grooves for receiving the plurality of spaced side supports.
9. The method of claim 8,
The wheel rim mounted on the wheel hub further comprising a wheel rim defining a center aperture having an opening defined by the outboard surface of the wheel rim,
Wherein the cartridge unit is disposed in an inboard of the opening in the outboard surface of the wheel rim.
9. The method of claim 8,
Further comprising an engagement release spring disposed between the base portion of the cartridge unit and the clutch ring.
13. The method of claim 12,
And wherein the second piston is disposed opposite the clutch ring.
9. The method of claim 8,
The latching device has first and second spring arms each disposed on opposite sides of the posts of the second piston and engageable with first and second latch shapes on opposite surfaces of the post of the second piston Wherein the spring arm member comprises a spring arm member.
15. The method of claim 14,
Wherein the spring arm member has a body portion attached to the first piston,
Wherein the first and second spring arms extend from the body portion through an opening in the first piston.
9. The method of claim 8,
The second piston having a plurality of circumferential gaps on an outer circumferential surface and the first piston having a plurality of fingers received in the circumferential gaps of the second piston.
In a pulse vacuum hub lock system,
A wheel hub having inner splines;
An axle having a pair of axially spaced outer spline sets;
A housing assembly received within a bore in the wheel hub;
A pair of axially spaced, spaced-apart axially spaced outer splines for mating with said axially spaced outer splines of said axle and for coupling with said inner splines of said wheel hub, A clutch ring having inner splines;
A diaphragm supported by the housing assembly;
A piston disposed between said first and second pistons for deflecting said first and second pistons in opposite directions and having a first end and a second end, A piston assembly having a latching device for releasably coupling the first and second pistons to a latched position; And
A wheel rim mounted on the wheel hub, the wheel rim defining an aperture defined by an outboard surface of the wheel rim, the wheel rim defining a center aperture,
The spring further comprises a piston spring disposed between the first piston and the second piston, and an auxiliary spring disposed between the first piston and the second piston, wherein the auxiliary spring is concentric with the piston spring And is smaller in size than the piston spring,
Wherein the housing assembly, the clutch ring, the diaphragm, and the piston assembly are disposed in an inboard of the opening in the outboard surface of the wheel rim.
18. The method of claim 17,
Further comprising an engagement release spring disposed between the base portion of the housing assembly and the clutch ring.

18. The method of claim 17,
And the second piston is disposed opposite the clutch ring.
18. The method of claim 17,
Wherein the housing assembly includes at least one of the clutch ring, the diaphragm, the first piston,
A piston and a cartridge unit supporting the latching device, wherein the cartridge unit is received within a bore of the wheel hub.
18. The method of claim 17,
The second piston having a plurality of circumferential gaps on an outer circumferential surface and the first piston having a plurality of fingers received in the circumferential gaps of the second piston.
18. The method of claim 17,
Wherein the piston spring provides resistance over the entire stroke of the first piston and the second spring provides resistance only for a portion of the stroke of the first piston.

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